• Marc Ziegenbein, Christoph Anreis, Bernhard Brüggen, Martin Ohlmeier, and Stefan Kropp.
• Department of Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, 30623 Hannover, Germany. ziegenbein.marc@mh-hannover.de
• Bmc Health Serv Res. 2006 Jan 1;6:150.

BackgroundPatients with psychiatric problems often seek help and assistance in hospital emergency departments. An important task of emergency room staff is to decide whether such patients need to be admitted or whether they can be treated on an outpatient basis.MethodsPsychiatric treatments given in the Central Interdisciplinary Emergency Department (CED) at the Medical University of Hannover (MHH) in 2002 were analysed.ResultsOf a total of 2632 patients seeking psychiatric help, 51.4% were admitted for inpatient treatment. Patients with dementia syndromes were admitted more frequently than patients with other psychiatric diseases. Suicidality was often the reason for admission. Accompanied patients were less likely to be hospitalised, unless a care-order was in force. Restraining measures and acute medication also had an impact on the rate of admissions.ConclusionThe results may help psychiatrists in the emergency department to make a more effective decision regarding inpatient admission in the interest of the individual patient.

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